Wa-Wa was baptized 49 years ago, November 5, 1960. I can remember sitting in their bed in Berkeley and having him tell us that he was going to be baptized that afternoon. It was a real shock to all!

When I was looking for some things of Tom's from his mission, I came across his testimony---or feelings about the Church that he wrote for Lexi in 1991, about a year and a half before he died. I thought you might all enjoy reading it.....

As you know, when I met Kay-Kay, my exposure to the beliefs of the Mormons became more intense. I still was not convinced that it, the Mormon doctrine, was the full truth, nor was I really interested in what one’s religious beliefs were. But there was one thing that did make an impression on me—Kay Kay’s devout belief and full confidence that the teachings of the LDS church were the Truth. She truly lived the principles every moment of her life. She was never over-bearing, never disgusted with my various ways of life that were certainly not hers, never critical of others. She was and is a very wise person. Outstanding in every respect. You might guess that I love this wonderful woman with all my heart. Kay Kay put up with me for 22 years before I finally was able to come to grips with what was important in life.

What caused me to suddenly join the Church? I am not completely sure even to this day which is about 32 years later. I do know that I have never been happier, more content with life, and feel that I know what life here on earth is all about, feel that there must have been a life before we came to this earth. “Life” may be the wrong word—that there was an existence before we came to be born, may be a better way of putting it. That there must be something after this life---I cannot believe that after one dies that there is nothing or that we just sit around in the clouds playing our harps! I am convinced that there is eternal progression---I cannot say how all this will take place—nor do I think anyone else can either. I do not think we have to know the details. I do firmly believe that there are certain “rules” that must be followed—certain progressive steps that we must perform in this life, for there is no other period of time to do this for ourselves. These steps are things such as baptism and confirmation—learning to live in accordance with sound principles taught to us by latter day prophets—I can’t accept that the days of prophets were limited to one period of time and then taken away forever from the people of this earth. I believe that we must live by certain sound rules or principles that are taught to us as members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints—rules such as –tithing, a very sound principle if looked at with an overall view—Tithing has been taught way back before the present Church was organized. It is a method of not only obtaining funds to operate an organization, but a lesson in self-discipline, a lesson in sharing, a lesson in humility, a lesson of conviction in the truthfulness of the direction given us by our Heavenly Father. The Word of Wisdom—who can argue that this is not the best way of living a healthful life? What can be said against it? Sure some have to give up certain habits that are difficult for some to do—but who can really find fault with the elimination of unhealthful habits such as smoking, drinking alcoholic beverages, coffee and tea. These are the common things that one thinks of as “The Word of Wisdom”—there are others as well and they all make good sense. I smoked for a long time—gave it up on a doctor’s advice long before it had been generally accepted that smoking is injurious to our health. Drinking alcoholic beverages? Yes, I did drink some on social occasions. Certainly never missed it when I gave it up—saved money as well!! Coffee and tea? I try to drink caffeine-free coffee as well as tea—but I don’t make a fetish about it. I am convinced that the “word of Wisdom” is truly a “word” of “wisdom” and no one can truly argue against it. I do not believe that I will be assigned to purgatory for having a cup of coffee and tea on occasion!

I never had actually prayed in my life before I met Kay-Kay. Prayer did not mean a thing to me—I had never been taught that prayer was a necessary part of life. I had been taught to say thank you when someone did something nice for you. But I had never been exposed to the greatest “thank-you”that we should constantly have in mind—the thanks for our very life that we have here on earth, the thanks for the many experiences that we are privileged to have every hour of every day that we are living. Who should we thank? I think that our Heavenly Father must have terrific patience with the many on Earth that ignore him, that do not recognize his ever presence in everything we do. I know through every fiber in my body that our Heavenly Father has looked out after me, that He is the one responsible for everything that I have obtained in this life. That He is responsible for my very life.
“Fasting”---a strong principle of the Gospel—closely tied in with prayer—A difficult principle for me to have accepted, but certainly a true principle if applied properly. There is no one, I believe, who likes to eat more than I do. I like my three square meals a day—every day--. But again, even though at the present time I cannot say that I truly live the fasting principle due to my medication, I do have to admit that one who fasts properly is repaid a thousand fold. Why is this so? I have seen it work, both through others who have fasted—and prayed—for special blessings at time of particular need and likewise myself at various times in my life when I have received positive answers to problems that faced me in life. I do strongly believe in fasting and prayer.
Another matter which I wish to express my strong belief in is the priesthood and its “super-natural” powers. As you know, I was very close to “checking out” a couple of years ago. As I lay in the emergency room at the hospital at 2 AM that Sunday morning, your father(Dick) and Bishop Spencer (Daines) laid their hands on my head and anointed me with consecrated oil and gave me a blessing. A blessing which I will never forget. The words used were beautiful—I don’t remember the words verbatim—Neither your father nor Spencer Daines are the best speakers but the words spoken that night and the feeling of peace and comfort are beyond any earthly description. Where did this power come from? I know they came from our Heavenly Father through Jesus Christ, His Son and through the mouths of those two who administered to me that night. I have seen this happen on many occasions—I have experienced this myself as I laid my hands on the heads of various people who believed and gave them blessings which I myself could not give---and, therefore came only “through “ me. The power of the priesthood is a miracle. I know of no other church that has this to give its worthy members. I strongly believe in this and have not the slightest doubt about its true power. Can I prove it? You bet I can by personal experience!!!! These like many other gospel principles are difficult to prove to anyone investigating the truthfulness of the Gospel. I think a person must show faith in the experiences of others if they have not had such experiences themselves. This is difficult I am sure because I doubt whether I would have truly accepted the stories that I know personally are true and real now. I only hope that others are smarter and don’t let time pass by without taking positive action. I know that I regret now having accepted the principles much earlier than I did—my life as well as my immediate family would have been enriched a great deal.

Experiences in Temple work. As you know the ordinances performed in the various temples around the world are extremely sacred, and we don’t talk about them in great detail. Suffice it is to say that not only can a worthier member perform work for himself or herself but can perform ordinances for the dead, so that they may be given the gifts and blessings that are obtainable at the temples and that they were unable to obtain when they were living---or, in fact, those who have had the opportunity but failed to exercise them for themselves, either by not being members of the Church or being members in name only, and not worthy of temple attendance. I have taken great interest in this phase of the Gospel in the last few years. I have seen to it that Temple ordinances have been performed for members of my family, that is, my father and mother and my brother and sisters. Also for many, many other ancestors for whom I have been able to submit names and the necessary information for Temple work to be done for them. The beautiful part of the Gospel, in my opinion is that they, the ancestors, can accept or reject these blessings. It is then, their responsibility, not mine, as to whether they wish to have “Eternal Life”.
I am sure that many people, including my dear grandchildren, wonder why I spend hours at the computer, preparing names of our ancestors so that work can be performed for them in the Temples of the Church. I look at it this way----I believe, and I would feel re-miss if I did not try to do things here that they failed to do or did not have the opportunity to do when they were living in this life.

I have rambled on here with no particular order of things in mind, only what has popped into this mind of mine. I am glad that you asked me to write some things down as to how I feel about the teachings of the Church. You can see that I bounce around from one thing to another and do not get into the deep philosophical discussions about Church doctrine. I leave that for others to ponder. I readily admit I do not have a good knowledge of the scriptures but I accept things others say if they make good sense to me. As in any organization there are those that believe they know all the answers. The Church is no exception. But I strongly believe in free agency, and I will accept when I feel like accepting and reject from my mind philosophies of others who I really don’t believe know much more than I do!!


....as you can see Wa-Wa was a very special person...and had a very pragmatic philosophy of life which I think we have inherited!!!

Love,
Mom